*<b>Town Hall Meeting on Diversity</b>: ALA's Committee on Diversity has organized a Town Hall Meeting on Diversity, scheduled for Friday July 10, 2009 from 8:30am-12:00pm in the Palmer House Hilton, Adams Ballroom during the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. The forum will focus on four key discussion topics: 1) Unifying library diversity advocacy efforts across member associations; 2) Encouraging diversity in ALA leadership groups; 3) Enhancing LIS education to facilitate the recruitment of students from under-represented backgrounds; and 4) Fostering workplace diversity and organizational change to better promote and retain members of under-represented groups in the LIS profession.

*<b>Town Hall Meeting on Diversity</b>: ALA's Committee on Diversity has organized a Town Hall Meeting on Diversity, scheduled for Friday July 10, 2009 from 8:30am-12:00pm in the Palmer House Hilton, Adams Ballroom during the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. The forum will focus on four key discussion topics: 1) Unifying library diversity advocacy efforts across member associations; 2) Encouraging diversity in ALA leadership groups; 3) Enhancing LIS education to facilitate the recruitment of students from under-represented backgrounds; and 4) Fostering workplace diversity and organizational change to better promote and retain members of under-represented groups in the LIS profession.

Click on "Conference News" above for general information about attending an ALA conference, including tips on finding funding for attending the conference. For specific, up to date information about the ALA Conference beyond YALSA's slate of programs and events, please visit the ALA Annual Conference wiki.

Registration, Travel and Hotel Information

Regular registration for the 2009 ALA Annual Conference is now open. You can register online at http://www.ala.org/annual. If you need to give a general price to your supervisor, advanced registration is $210 for division members and $298 for non-members.

If you have already registered and would like to add a preconference or special event, you have two options: (1) By phone: Call ALA Registration at 1-800-974-3084 and ask to add a workshop to your existing registration.; (2) Online: Add an event to your existing registration by clicking on this link. Use your log in and password to access your existing Annual registration and add events in the “Your Events” section (screen 6). Then simply check out and pay for the events you’ve added.

United Airlines is offering special meeting discounts for attendees of the ALA Annual Conference. Simply call the United Special Meeting Desk at 800-521-4041 and refer to Meeting ID Number 500CR to receive a 2-10% discount off applicable fares, including First Class. If you purchase your ticket at least 30 days prior to travel, you will receive an additional 5% discount. This special offer applies to travel on domestic segments of all United Airlines, United Express, TED and United code share flights (UA*) operated by US Airways, US Airways Express and Air Canada. There are no fees to use the 800 number. International attendees will receive a 10% discount off the lowest applicable fare (excluding First Class), or a 15% discount off the fully refundable, unrestricted coach fare when they call their local United Airlines reservation number and refer to meeting ID number 500CR. An additional 5% discount will apply when tickets are purchased at least 60 days in advance of your travel dates. Discounts apply to United and Lufthansa (code share) flights. You can also make your reservation online at www.united.com, using ALA promotion code 500CR (click on "More Search Options" to enter the code).

A nursing room for mothers will be located in the First Aid Room, Level 1, near the Concierges, McCormick Place West at the Convention Center.

Consider staying with local Chicago residents who are renting out futons and private bedrooms for as little as $40. They have individual reviews too.

Roomates
Looking for a roommate for the symposium? Leave a message looking for someone in this space. Please include your contact information!

Convention Center Information

The 2009 ALA Annual Conference will be held in Chicago's McCormick Place convention center at 2301 S. Lake Shore Dr. The McCormick Place convention center has been expanded since the last Chicago ALA Annual Conference, and YALSA does have some programs scheduled there. It is now divided into 4 quadrants. For the ALA Conference, ALA is using just 2: McCormick Place West and McCormick Place South. This is a pretty huge convention center, so be sure you know where your meeting rooms are, or you could waste a lot of time wandering around. You can access the web for maps and floor plans of McCormick Place at www.mccormickplace.com (click on Facilities, then Floor Plans). A nursing room for mothers will be located in the First Aid Room, Level 1, near the Concierges, McCormick Place West at the Convention Center.

12:30-5:00pm
Moving up the YA Career LadderCANCELLED as of 4/10/09
Half day preconference
Learn how to move up the career ladder successfully! Participants will:

Identify career options for YA librarians

Understand how to identify and sharpen skills needed to successfully transition careers

Learn how to effectively write resumes and CVs

Assess their management style and identify the management style of others

Whether you are a new or seasoned librarian, this preconference will provide you with the practical tools and information that you will be able to begin using immediately.

4-5:00pm
YALSA 101Westin River North, Promenade Ballroom AWhat is the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA)? How does this ALA division help you? Learn more in a basic orientation, which will include an overview of the division and its activities. New members and those considering membership will learn more about the benefits, and established members are welcome to attend this great networking opportunity.

5-7pm
YALSA Happy Hour & Fashion ShowWestin River North Grand BallroomSteven Rosengard of Project Runway season 4, hosts YALSA's first ever fashion show and librarian makeover. We'll highlight the fashion of well-dressed librarians and give you tips on how to dress successfully (and inexpensively) for the library work place. Each person who registers for the event will receive a free drink coupon courtesy of Disney-Hyperion Books. Ticketed event - $10.

SATURDAY July 11

Leadership DevelopmentSaturday 8AM to 10AMMcCormick Place South, S-103 B-D
This is a leadership training session for YALSA's Committee, Jury and Taskforce Chairs. Never been a Chair, but thinking about being one? Come to this event. A continental breakfast will be served from 8:00 to 8:30.

All CommitteeSaturday 10AM - 12:00 PMMcCormick Place South, S-103 B-D
This is a working meeting for all of YALSA's Process Committees, Juries and Taskforces. Not on a committee or other member group? Stop on by and learn what it's all about. A continental breakfast will be served from 10:00 to 10:30.

Margaret A. Edwards Luncheon (Ticketed Event - $59)
Saturday, 12-1:30Hyatt Regency McCormick, Regency Ballroom
Come join us for lunch and listen to Laurie Halse Anderson, the winner of the 2009 Margaret A. Edwards Award, which honors an author, as well as a specific body of his or her work that have been popular over a period of time, speak about their writing. The annual award is administered by YALSA, the fastest-growing division of ALA, and sponsored by School Library Journal magazine.

Downloadable Technology: Current and Future Trends
Saturday 1:30 to 3:00McCormick Place West, W-180
Panel review of current trends in downloadable and streaming technology for teens. Their suggested implementations for programming and services in public and school libraries will be demonstrated. Consultant Beth Gallaway will talk about downloadable gaming technologies. Librarian Kate Pritchard will showcase and streaming music. Karen Potash will demonstrate OverDrive products for teens

Book Signing with Pam Spencer Holley
Saturday 3:00 to 4:00Exhibits Hall
Pam Spencer Holley, author of the new Quick & Popular Reads for Teens, will sign copies of her new book at the YALSA Booth. See details in the YALSA in the Exhibits section on this page.

Mixing it Up: The Process of Bringing International Children’s Books to the United States
Saturday, 3:30-5:30McCormick Place West, W-470b
This program will offer multiple perspectives on the work of bringing international children’s books to the United States by showcasing an author who writes in a language other than English, a translator, and an editor. Details on speakers are offered in this flyer. (PDF)

Beyond Pizza: Teen Advisory Groups as Library Leadership
Sunday 8:00am to 10am McCormick Place West, W-470b
The care and feeding of library advisory boards keeps many a librarian up at night. This program will cover best practices, supply toolkits, and address traditional as well as more flexible models in which teens work as advisors to the library. Librarians from public and school libraries, as well as teens involved in their library program, will offer insight to creating, maintaining, growing or rejuvenating your teen group.

The 2009 Alex Awards
Sunday 10:30 to 12:30McCormick Place West, W-179
The 2009 Alex Award winners--what they are and how to sell them to young adults are highlighted in this panel presentation. Winning authors will also speak about how winning the Alex Award has impacted them. The Alex Award is given to the top 10 books that have appeal to young adults and is administered by YALSA and sponsored by the Margaret Alexander Edwards Trust.

Winning authors Toby Barlow for his book Sharp Teeth, Stephen G. Bloom and photographer Peter Feldstein for their book The Oxford Project, Hillary Jordan for her book Mudbound and Todd Tucker for his book Over and Under will be speaking!

Cool Teen Programs on a Shoestring
Sunday 10:30-12:30McCormick Place West, W-194b
Meet the author and contributors of this brand new book for YA Librarians in Schools and Public Libraries

Making Stuff: Craft Programming for Teens
Sunday 1:30 to 3:00Hyatt Regency McCormick, Conference Center 10 a/b
Join teen services staff as they present teen craft trends and programming ideas. Watch demonstrations, find free resources and learn how to promote your programs the right way. Sample crafts will be provided. Bring a craft idea to share that has been successful for you.

It Takes Two: School and Public Libraries, Partnerships that Work
Sunday, 3:30-5:30McCormick Place West, W-178a
School Librarians and Public Librarians DO get together to create successful partnerships that serve Teens! Gather ideas, find inspiration, and get the tools to make it happen at YOUR school or library. This session will feature a "Showcase of Success" with real life examples of programs that work and are easy to replicate. Throughout the presentation experts in the field of collaboration will also be presenting their research and valuable insight.

Speakers include: Gail Bush from National-Louis University, Tasha Squires author of Library Partnerships: Making Connections Between School and Pubic Libraries, Robin Willard from Chicago Public Library, Anna Koval from Petaluma City Schools, Latasha Baker from Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, Brijin Boddy from Chattahoochee Valley Library District, Patricia Tirona from San Diego County Library, and Kelly Czarnecki from ImaginOn.

Strengthen Your YA Collection with Small Press/Diverse Publishers
Sunday, 3:30-5:30McCormick Place West, W-196b
Come to this open house featuring publishers that focus on publishing for diverse YA populations, but that normally do not exhibit at the ALA conference. Tables will be set up around the room where publishers will feature YA titles and representatives will be available to chat about their latest titles.

Library Materials and Services for Children and Young Adults: Historical Perspectives
Sunday, 3:30-5:30McCormick Place West, W-192b
Sponsored by ALA's Library History Round Table (LHRT) & Co-Sponsored by YALSA.
What is past is prologue. Come to this forum and enjoy four scholarly presentations pertaining to the history of children's and YA librarianship. The panelists will be: Jennifer Burek-Pierce, University of Iowa, ““When the Reign of Children Began: Games, Toys, and Activities for Young People in Libraries, 1876-1920”; Kate McDowell, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, “Children’s Voices in Librarians’ Words: Children as Readers in Libraries from 1890 to 1930”; Ellen Pozzi, Rutgers University, “An Early Model of Youth Services Cooperation Between Public Libraries and Schools”; and Cindy Welch, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, “Are You a YA Librarian? … The Young Adult Alternative Newsletter, 1973-1979.” Questions? Contact Bernadette A. Lear, LHRT Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect, Penn State Harrisburg Library, BAL19@psu.edu

MONDAY July 13

Sex in YA Lit: From Blume to Block and Beyond.
Monday, 8-10amMcCormick Place West, W-470b
Blume's Forever put sex into YA literature. A YA author, lawyer and librarian uses legal skills to analyze 30 books over the past 30 years: whether sex in these books is frank or filler, realistic or reprehensible, and represents trends in teen behavior, in an effort to develop review factors and explore this statement— If the sex reflects a truth about teens, even in its most exploitive usage, then the literature can generate introspection.

Walk the Line: The Fine Line Between Selection & Censorship
AASL, ALSC, YALSA
Monday 10:30 to 12:30McCormick Place West, W-178a
Selection policies notwithstanding, every young adult librarian faces the challenge of self-censorship when dealing with collection development. If you've ever paused before ordering an item out of fear of a challenge from the community, this program is for you. Five panelists will discuss walking the fine line between selection and censorship within the areas of graphic novels, edgy and urban fiction, music, nonfiction, and religion.

Walk the Line Panelist Bios:

Shari Fesko is the Teen Service Librarian at the Southfield Public Library in Southfield Michigan. A huge lover of Hip Hop Music and Teen Dance movies she has to pinch herself daily that she gets to order all of this great stuff for her collection. She currently reviews for both VOYA and School Library Journal.

Megan Honig is the Young Adult Materials Specialist at the New York Public Library. As a student at Queens College Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, she wrote a masters thesis on teens and street lit. She has been causing trouble ever since by introducing librarians and library students to the genre, and by giving teens a straight answer when they ask for "more books like The Coldest Winter Ever." Megan has written for VOYA and the YALSA blog, and she is currently working on a street lit guide for Libraries Unlimited's Genreflecting series.

Paula Laurita earned her MLIS from the University of Alabama in 1997. She was a Catholic school librarian for ten years in Madison, Alabama. Paula is currently the Coordinator of Public Services at the Athens-Limestone Public Library. Her responsibilities include the children's young adult collections. She immediately gave the staff heart palpitations by ordering graphic novels. Paula is also the Library Sciences editor at BellaOnline.com.

Ken Petrilli has been the Teen Services Librarian at the New Rochelle Public Library for the last seven years. Also a musician, he spends a lot of time with his guitar, and feels that a deep and total immersion into anime, comics, sci-fi, fantasy and other pop culture is the best way to live (even if it does turn your brains into sugary goo!). You can contact me at:
[planetfire@hotmail.com, ironlibrarian@gmail.com, facebook, or check out my music at:
myspace

Hallie Warshaw is Publisher and Creative Director at Zest Books in San Francisco, CA. She is the founder of Orange Avenue Publishing and Zest Books. Hallie began her career as a graphic designer in Hong Kong and Japan where she worked for several design firms. She then returned to her native New York where she became an art director in the educational publishing group at Scholastic. After moving to San Francisco in 1996, Hallie worked as an interactive designer for a web based design firm. She eventually decided to go back to her love of books and, in 2000, founded Orange Avenue Publishing, a book packager. In 2006 Hallie saw the opportunity for creating fun, hip, edgy advice books for teens, and founded Zest Books. Hallie received a BA from Clark University and a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design. She lives in San Francisco but spends a lot of time visiting and staying in New York.

YALSA President’s Program & Membership Meeting: Creativity Counts: Nurturing Teens' Talents at Libraries Large & Small
Monday 1:30 to 3:00McCormick Place West, W-196a
The 2009 YALSA President's Program will feature a panel of speakers who are sure to inspire the audience to engage teens' creative juices at their libraries. Whatever the medium - creative writing, photography, fine arts, music, theater, design, gaming, cartooning, digital media production - all of these endeavors can and should be nurtured and advocated by librarians who work with teens. This program will highlight the realistic potential of all types of libraries, both big and small. Two fetured speakers include: Elise Cole, Teen Services Librarian at the Oakville Public Library, who has run the very successful Write2Xpress contest for teens: http://tinyurl.com/rbggw6. Our other speaker is Patrick Shaffner, Chicago's outreach coordinator for the nonprofit writing workshop, 826, founded by Dave Eggers and friends. We will be giving away issues of Teen Ink!

Fabulous Films for Young Adults
Monday 3:30-5:30pmMcCormick Place West, W-178a
Find out about exciting film programming possibilities for teens, including film series, filmmaking workshops, film festivals, and Youtube video contests. Participate in a discussion of the importance of teen films collections at your library and watch scenes from selected films on the 2009 Coming of Age Around the World Fabulous Films for Young Adults list.

Odyssey Award Presentation & Reception
Monday 3:30-5:30PMMcCormick Place West, W-470b
The Odyssey Award is an award for the best audiobook production for youth, administered annually by ALSC and YALSA and sponsored by Booklist. The winning producer will receive the award, followed by a talk about the lastest in audiobooks. Recorded Books, LLC won for "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" which was written and narrated by Sherman Alexie. Mirron Willis and Sherman Alexie will be speaking.Refreshments will be served, compliments of the Audio Publishers Association.

Michael L. Printz Program and Reception (Ticketed Event--$29)
Monday, 8-10pmSheraton Chicago, Chicago Ballroom VI/VII
Come listen to Michael L. Printz award-winning author Melina Marchetta for her book Jellicoe Road and honor book authors, M.T. Anderson, author of The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II, The Kingdom on the Waves; E. Lockhart, author of The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks; Terry Pratchett, author of Nation; and Margo Lanagan, author of Tender Morsels, speak about their writing, followed by a dessert reception. The annual award is administered by YALSA and sponsored by Booklist magazine.

YALSA in the Exhibits

YALSA will have a member booth in the Exhibit Hall. It will be inside the ALA Membership Pavillion, which is #3034.

On Saturday, July 11, YALSA will host a book signing in its booth on the exhibit floor, featuring Pam Spencer Holley, editor of the brand new Quick & Popular Reads for Teens, a fully annotated guide to two of YALSA's popular booklists: the Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers and Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults. Meet Pam from 3-4 p.m.

On Sunday, July 12 from noon to 1PM drop by the YALSA booth and meet YALSA President Sarah Debraski. Sarah will be available to chat about any suggestions, questions or concerns you may have.

Volunteer

YALSA will have a member booth in the Exhibit Hall. It will be inside the ALA Membership Pavillion, which is #3034. If you're interested in volunteering to help staff the YALSA booth, please contact the YALSA Division and Membership Promotion Committeeat yalsa_promo@ala.org
This can be a great oppurtunity to learn something new about ALA's fastest growing divison, network, and connect with like-minded colleagues!

Currently, all volunteer slots are open. Exhibit dates and hours are as follows:

*Sat. July 11, 5:30pm - 7:30pm

*Sun. July 12, 9:00am - 5:00pm

*Mon. July 13, 9:00am - 5:00pm

*Tues. July 14, 9:00am - 2:00pm

YALSA Office Area & Staff On-Site

Office Area at Conference

The ALA Office area will be located in the McCormick Place convention center, West Building Level 1 Room W183. It opens 10AM Friday and will be open Sat. thru Tues. from 6AM to 10PM. YALSA will have an office area there w/ a computer and a printer. You are welcome to use the computer if staff are not using it. If you missed the deadline for having the office copy your materials and need to print out multiple copies of things on-site, please find a staff person to arrange for that for you. It is best to give 24 hours' notice. The YALSA office area is #41. You will probably not find YALSA staff in this area very often, as we will be out and about providing support at YALSA's different meetings and events (there are over 90!).

YALSA Staff at Conference

All five YALSA staff are coming to the conference: Amy, Letitia, Nichole, Stevie and me. Nichole will have the responsibility of liaising w/ the award & selection committees and dealing w/ all event & meeting room set up, AV, refreshments, etc. She is also the person to see if you want to buy tickets on-site for things like the Printz Program & Reception. Stevie will be focusing on media relations for the conference and assisting w/ events. I'll be handling governance matters and liaising w/ the YALSA Board of Directors. Letitia will be assisting with the member booth and governance matters. Amy will be assisting Nichole w/ meetings and events. You can leave messages for any staff or Board member in the office area and we will be happy to help you. We will have paper copies of each staff person's schedule in our office area so you will know where to find us.

Special Events

On Saturday, July 11, YALSA will host a book signing in its booth on the exhibit floor, featuring Pam Spencer Holley, editor of the brand new Quick & Popular Reads for Teens, a fully annotated guide to two of YALSA's popular booklists: the Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers and Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults. Meet Pam from 3-4 p.m.

Other Events of Interest

Town Hall Meeting on Diversity: ALA's Committee on Diversity has organized a Town Hall Meeting on Diversity, scheduled for Friday July 10, 2009 from 8:30am-12:00pm in the Palmer House Hilton, Adams Ballroom during the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. The forum will focus on four key discussion topics: 1) Unifying library diversity advocacy efforts across member associations; 2) Encouraging diversity in ALA leadership groups; 3) Enhancing LIS education to facilitate the recruitment of students from under-represented backgrounds; and 4) Fostering workplace diversity and organizational change to better promote and retain members of under-represented groups in the LIS profession.

Booklist Books for Youth Forum, Fri. 8-10PM. "Celebrating Abraham Lincoln." Celebrate 200 years of Lincoln’s legacy at the 2009 Booklist Youth Forum with a group of award-winning authors and editors. Candace Fleming, Deborah Hopkinson, Jean Feiwel, and Russell Freedman will discuss the stories behind their Lincoln titles, as well as the challenges of creating captivating biographies for children and young adults.

ALA Membership Meetings: "Libraries in Hard Times." Join ALA for two open forums highlighting the role of libraries during a recession. Take advantage of these opportunities to address the ALA Leaders and offer your vote on resolutions. Membership Meetings are an important way that you can affect what ALA does! 2009 ALA Membership Meetings will be held on Saturday, July 11, 3:30 - 5:00 p.m. & Monday, July 13, 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

ALA Committee on Literacy: The ALA Committee on Literacy invites you to a discussion and planning meeting on Saturday, July 11 at 1:30 pm at McCormick Place West in W-176c to discuss an exciting new project to support online information and learning opportunities for adults and teens with low reading skills. The objective of this meeting is to explore the possibility of a national project to support cooperative collection development of online information portals for adults and teens with low literacy skills. Project participants would share responsibility for and access to a common web library that could respond to the common information needs of our common clients. Such a project would be a win-win for everyone. At the meeting we will look at some existing web portals, like Internet Public Library (http://ipl.org) and the Beehive (http://beehive.org). We will also showcase many websites that could be incorporated into a larger portal. The meeting will be led by Robin Osborne, Director of the Office of Community Connections at the Westchester Library System (NY).

"Helping High School Students Become ‘College Ready’"

On Sunday, July 12, immediately following the LIRT Conference Program,
"Preparing Yourself to Teach: Touching All the Bases," there will be an
informal brownbag discussion from 12-1:00 sponsored by the LIRT Transitions
to College Committee. Discussion will focus on issues, ideas and opportunities
for collaborations to help students with the transition from high school to
college.

All interested school, public, academic and special librarians are
invited to attend. David Barr, Founding Director of 21CIF (the 21st
Century Information Fluency project in IL), will facilitate the
discussion, which will draw from “Rethinking College Readiness,” by
David T. Conley, in the Spring 2008 issue of The New England Journal
of Higher Education. The article is available at
http://www.nebhe.org/info/pdf/nejhe/NEJHE_Spring08.pdf

Information for Committee, Task Force and Jury Chairs

Chicago Information

Hello, Chicagoans! Please feel free to add information here that may be of interest to visitors.

Transportation

Check out Chicago's Trip Planner for the fastest way to get to your destination using Chicago's public transportation. The Trip Planner includes information on busses and trains. If you'll be using the CTA bus to get around, keep an eye on the Bus Tracker to find out when it'll be at your stop.

There is a free trolley that runs along the Magnificent Mile to downtown and even to Navy Pier. For more information, visit the web site.